This invention relates generally to the cleaning of reeds on textile weaving machines. In particular, this invention relates to the simultaneous cleaning of the reeds and auxiliary air nozzles found on air jet weaving machines (or looms) without removing the reed from the loom, without disengaging the warp yarn therefrom, and without reducing the warp yarn tension.
The reed, in typical construction, has a C-shaped channel or tunnel that is formed by the shape of the individual dents that comprise the reed. Fill yarn is propelled through this C-shaped tunnel across the loom during operation of the loom. Because of the shape of the tunnel, size, lint, trimer, dirt, loom oils, and the like tend to accumulate in this area. Fiber residue may also be a part of this accumulation, particularly when weaving with spun fibers. When accumulations in the reed tunnel occur, the fill yarn is more easily knocked out of the tunnel, causing filling stops and decreased production efficiency. It is known that periodic cleaning of the tunnel, therefore, results in decreased machine stops and improved productivity.
In the case of air jet weaving machines, the fill yarns are propelled through the tunnel and across the loom by air from the main air nozzle and are further propelled by a series of auxiliary air nozzles located directly beneath the yarn sheet. The fill yarn is propelled by a sequenced progression of pressurized air bursts from this series of auxiliary air nozzles spaced across the width of the loom (and along the path of the fill yarn). Each air nozzle has at least one small aperture through which pressurized air flows. These small apertures are easily clogged by size, trimer, and fiber particles as might accumulate in the reed tunnel, thus causing the nozzles to function less efficiently. Because of the size and position of these auxiliary air nozzles in the loom, adequate cleaning of these nozzles has been difficult to achieve and has not, heretofore, been successfully addressed by other cleaning machines.
It is necessary for efficient operation of a loom to clean the lint, size, trimer, and the like from on and between the dents of the reed. In the past, cleaning has been accomplished in a number of ways, none of which is completely satisfactory. The most straightforward way to clean the reed is to disengage the warp yarn sheet and remove the reed from the loom for cleaning. This is very time-consuming and inefficient. Alternative methods, including systems for leaving the reed in the loom and blowing or ultrasonically treating the reed in place, have been tried but do not perform the necessary cleaning as quickly or thoroughly as desired. Other methods require the tension on the yarn sheet to be significantly reduced, but it has been found that this makes the individual yarns more likely to break during the cleaning of the reed. In addition, cleaning methods that require the reed to be moved to a remote position or that require the tension of the yarn sheet to be significantly reduced typically result in a defect in the finished woven product. The present invention avoids these shortcomings.
Furthermore, existing reed cleaning machines do not address a problem specific to air jet weaving machines, that of cleaning the auxiliary air nozzles described above. Accordingly, the present invention not only solves the problem of cleaning of the reed in a highly efficient manner, but also allows for the simultaneous cleaning of the auxiliary air nozzles, a need largely ignored by the prior art.
The present invention is an apparatus that cleans the tunnel of the reed and, at the same time, is capable of cleaning the auxiliary air nozzles that are located beneath the yarn sheet in air jet weaving machines. The apparatus is held in alignment on the reed by the clamping action of a clamping air cylinder, whose directional movement against the face of the reed secures the apparatus to the reed. The apparatus has rotating brushes that simultaneously clean the reed (and, where applicable, auxiliary air nozzles) as the apparatus is pulled across the weaving machine by an on-board drive mechanism that includes a winder drum around which a drive cable is wound. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus is powered by pneumatic motors.
It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method to efficiently clean the reed of a textile weaving machine without the need for removing the reed, disengaging the warp yarns therefrom, or significantly reducing the tension on the warp yarns.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method to efficiently clean the auxiliary air nozzles of an air jet weaving machine, simultaneously with the cleaning of the reed, without the need for removing the reed, disengaging the warp yarns therefrom, or significantly reducing the tension on the warp yarns.
It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method to clean the reed and the auxiliary air nozzles of an air jet weaving machine with an apparatus that can easily be attached to a machine and that is capable of carrying out such cleaning operations with minimal operator assistance.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an apparatus with the features of stability and portability, such that it may move across the reed without becoming misaligned and may be moved from one weaving machine to another, as machine cleaning requirements dictate, quickly and without difficulty.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the invention, together with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: